GOLD prices surged to a record high on Thursday (Mar 21) after the US Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged in a widely expected move and stayed on track for three rate cuts this year.
Spot gold was up 0.5 per cent at US$2,196.69 per ounce, as at 0036 GMT, after hitting an all-time high of US$2,222.39 earlier in the session.
US gold futures jumped 1.8 per cent to US$2,198.90 per ounce.
Fed chair Jerome Powell said on Wednesday that recent high inflation readings had not changed the underlying “story” of slowly easing price pressures in the US.
Lower interest rates decrease the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion and weigh on the US dollar, making gold cheaper for investors holding other currencies.
The US dollar slipped to a one-week low against its rivals, while benchmark US 10-year Treasury yields also dipped.
Fed funds futures traders are now pricing in a 75 per cent probability that the Fed will begin cutting rates in June, up from 59 per cent on Tuesday, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch Tool.
Focus now shifts to a rate decision from the Bank of England later in the day. The central bank is widely expected to keep its bank rate at 5.25 per cent, its highest level since 2008.
SPDR Gold Trust, the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings rose 0.14 per cent to 838.50 tonnes on Wednesday from 837.35 tonnes on Tuesday.
Spot silver was steady at US$25.61 per ounce, platinum rose 0.5 per cent to US$911.95 and palladium rose 0.4 per cent to US$1,025.19. REUTERS
